Treading water is a good thing, right?
That is certainly a reasonable assumption in a sink-or-swim situation, but swimming in place hardly seems a victory if others are lapping you in the pool.
Now, imagine that swimming pool as the American labor market. Legions of male employees in New York and across the country might not readily connect with an on-the-job analogy that underscores simply staying afloat.
Many women will, though.
And here’s why: According to data compiled by the Pew Research Center, the country’s female labor force has essentially remained at a standstill relative to its male peers in salary intake over the past generation.
What does “stability” mean in a gender-gap pay analysis?
Pew researchers say that the U.S. gender pay gap has remained “relatively stable” over many years.
That steadiness equates to the sad fact that female take-home pay on average has consistently amounted to about 84% of what men earned over the lst 15 years.
Pew notes that it “would take an extra 42 days of work for women to earn what men did in 2020.” (This data is based on a comparison of all women workers to all men workers. The numbers change when other characteristics, such as the age or the race of the workers are taken into consideration.)
Does discrimination factor into wage discrepancies?
There is ample evidence to suggest that gender discrimination plays a real and sizable role in earning inequality across the United States. Twice as many women as men believe that gender discrimination plays a role in unfair workplace treatment, including pay inequity.
Employment discrimination that targets workers on the basis of classifications (including gender) that are recognized and protected under an array of federal and state laws is a flat taboo. An employee with questions or concerns can reach out to a proven employment law legal team for candid guidance and diligent representation.
